Process and apparatus for shredding soap



Feb. 19 1924. 1,484,271

- S.B.MURDOCK.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR SHREDDING SOAP Filed Sept. 9, 1919 fi m 1 i a 5 1 I i i 1 r 1 4 11:: ti :JE

mue/ B. Murdac/f 81% Patented Feb. 19, 1924.

UNITED sures mu-roman.

- smear. B. munnoon, or omcaeo, rumors, assmnoa ro THE uranium common. on. COMPANY, or NEW Yoax, N. Y., a conroaa'rron or NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR SHREDDING SOAP.

Application filed September 9', 1919. Serial No. 822,895.

To all whom it may -concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B, MURDOCK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of. Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes and Apparatus for Shredding Soap; and I do hereby declare the followm to be a full, clear, and exact description 0 the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap ertains to make and use the same.

Tl'llS invention relates to improvements in the production of soap flakes, and more particularly to the production of soap flakes which are made up in part or in whole of soap shreds of an elongated and irregular character.

It has heretofore been proposed to produce comminuted soap in the form'of soap powder, and also in the form of flat flakes or scales. The improved soap flakes of the present invention are distlnguished from the common forms of soap powder, and also from flat flakes or scales, by the irregular and elongated, twisted and shredded character of the soapparticles, due to the novel and improved method of their production. The present invention includes both the im-- proved process, and the improved product as a new product.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the soap is of a high grade, and of the character adapted for. tollet purposes, made up essentially of pure soap with-such additions thereto as are common in'high grade toilet soaps.

The process of the present invention involves subjecting the soap, containing a moderate amount of water, and while in a warm liquid state, to the shredding action of a series of high pressure, superheated steam jets, so that the soap is sprayed and shredded, preferably in the form of elon-' gated, twisted shreds. The thus sprayed and shredded soap is permitted to fall through a considerable distance and is thereby deprived of part of its moisture content. The product can be still further dried, if desired, to give a product of the proper mercial product.

The invention will be further illustrated,

by the following more specific description of certain embodiments thereof, and of an ap water content desired in the finished com-- proved process of the invention and for the production of the improved product.

In theaccompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 shows, in a conventional and diagrammatic manner, an arrangement of apparatus adapted for the production of t improved product.

Fig. 2, is a sectional view of the nozzle.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the removable plug of the nozzle, and

Fig. 4 is a top view of this same plug.

In the apparatus illustrated, the liquid .soap' is contained in one or more tanks 1 having a suitable inlet 2 and compressedair inlet 3, and provided with a pressure gauge 4. Such tanks will in practice be provided. with a heating jacket or heating coil (not shown). The outlet pipe 5 at the bottom of the tank has a regulating valve 6 therein and leads to the nozzle 7 described below, which is supplied with superheated steam from the superheater 9 through the' pipe 8. The nozzle 7 is arranged to discharge into a tower 10 of appropriateheight.

The soap is collected at the bottom of the tower upon a belt conveyor 11 which carries it into the dryer 12.

The specific construction of a suitable form of spraying and shredding nozzle is illustrated in Figs. 2 to 4. This nozzle is made up of an outer casing 13, surrounded by a steam jacket 14 having inlet and outlet pipes 15 and 16, and havin within it an I inner casing 17 to which t e su rheated steam pipe 8 is connected. This lnner casing has a tapered seat 18 which receives the disc 0r plug 19, having short slots or helical assages cut therein. The particular plug lllustrated has a cylindrical portion 20'and square end 21, as well as. the slotted or threaded portion 22 and the tapered end portion 23.

The construction and arrangement of the spray nozzle is such that the liquid soap is supplied thereto throu h the pipe 5 and forced down through steam enters through the pipe 8 and is discharged through the slots or openings in the plug 19, in such a way that the numerous jets of high pressure steam are given a swir ing motion. These jets of high pressure steam immediately expand upon leaving the helical o spiral steam passages, and they are brought into contact with the escaping soap in such a manner that the soap is sprayed and shredded, and a considerable portion thereof is converted into the form of elongated or twisted shreds.

In the practice of the process, the soap composition will be preliminarily prepared before it is subjected to the shredding action. For example, a charge of 1200 or 1300 pounds of kettle soap such as is used in high grade cake soap for toilet and other purposes, is run into the crutcher, and there is added to it about 30 pounds of sodium silicate, 20 pounds of water, and perfume, if desired, and the whole mass is then thoroughly mixed by about five minutes crutching, care being taken not to beat any appreciable amount of air into the soap. Steam is kept circulating through the crutcher jacket during this operation. \Vhen thoroughly mixed, the batch is transferred to the pressure tanks 1 which may conveniently be arranged at or near the top of the tower 10.

Steam of appropriate pressure is superheated in the superheater 9 and passed through the nozzle 7. When the steam has attained a temperature of about 400 F., the soap is forced by means of compressed air into the soap chamber of the nozzle and through the annular opening thereof, where it is subjected to the shredding action of the steam. The steam, as above noted, is discharged through a plurality of openings or jets with a swirling motion, and this steam, due to its high temperature and the manner in which it is introduced, and due to the liquid character of the soap and the manner in which it is supplied, will spray and shred the soap and convert it into a product of the character desired.

The shredded soap is discharged into the tower 10 and falls through the tower a considerable distance, for example, as much as 45 feet or more, and is then caught on the conveyor belt which carries it into the dryer 12. The soa is cut into elongated, irregular shreds rat er than into lumps, because of the fact that the blast of fluid under pressure moves substantially transverse to the direction of movement of the film or stream of soap, but slightly inclined toward said direction. Thus each jet will se arate an irregular shred from the moving fi m, as the stream of soap comes under the influence of the blast or jet, and, since such shred is spaced from the preceding shred, the shreds tend to hold such relative position during their passage downward through the stream of cooling fluid. During such passage the shreds are dried and a protective coating of dry soap is formed, so that when finally the shreds are collected in a mass on the conveyor they will not stick to each other.

The moisture content of the Soap, as it leaves the nozzle, may be, for example, about 31%. This moisture content is somewhat reduced during the passage of the soap downwardly through the tower, due to the drying action of the highly superheated steam, and to any drying current of heated air which may be passed through the tower, so that the soap, when itreaches the bottom of the tower, may have a moisture content of, for example, 25 or 26%. This content is still further reduced in the dryer to about 18 or 20%. The dryer may be of any appropriate construction and heated in any suitable manner, for example, by exhaust steam, to a temperature of about 120 F., while the product is being carried through it on the conveyor 11.

After drying, the product may advantageously be subjected to a screening operation to separate it into products of different degrees of fineness, for example, to remove therefrom the finer particles passing throu h a 40 mesh screen, and the coarser particfies passing over a, 5 mesh screen. The product may thus be sent over a shaking screen equipped with a 5 mesh over a 40 mesh screen, so that the coarse particles will go over the former, while the fine particles will go through the latter. The finer and the coarser particles may be separately collected and used, or they may be returned to the kettles. The intermediateproduct will then be the product that goes through the 5 mesh screen ut does not go through the 40 mesh screen. Such a product will contain soap flakes of irregular size and shape, a very considerable proportion of which will be of an elongated or twisted and shredded character, so that the soap product ma be properly described as a shredded pro not.

I claim:

1. A method of shredding soap, which consists in directing an expanding jet of high pressure superheated steam against a moving film or stream of molten soap, in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of movement of the stream but inclining in such direction whereby to se arate irregular shreds of soap from t e stream. 'i-' 2. The method of atomizing soap and of producing a shredded product, which comprises supplying hot li uid soap to an annular nozzle and disc arging outwardly against the annular stream of escaping soap expanding jets of high pressure superheated steam, the jets being discharged with a swirling motion, whereby the soap is effectively shredded.

3. The method of atomizing soap and of producing a shredded roduct, which comprises subjecting liquid soap to the shredding action of a series of expanding jets of high pressure superheated steam, and permitting the shredded product to fall through a heated atmosphere, whereby its moisture content is reduced, and a shredded product of lower moisture content obtained.

4. The method of atomizing sea and of producing a shredded product, WhlCh comprises supplying hot li uid soap to an annular nozzle, and disc arging outwardl against the annular stream of soap expan ing jets of high pressure steam superheated to a temperature of about 400F., the jets being discharged with a swirling motion, whereby the soap is effectively shredded.

5. The method of atomizing soap and of producing a shredded product, which comprises supplying hot liquid soa of high purity to an atomizing nozzle, s redding the soap by subjecting it to the shredding action of a series of expanding jets of hi h pressure superheated steam, permitting t e shredded soap to fall through a considerable space with resulting coolin and drying t .ereof, subjecting the pro not to a further drying operation, and removing from the resulting product the finer and the coarser particles, to give a shredded product containing soap shreds of an elongated and irregular character.

6. An improved atomizing ap aratus for the atomizing and shedding of iquid soap, comprising an annular soap chamber having an annular discharge nozzle, means for supplying the soap thereto under pressure, a central steam chamber and means for supplying high pressure superheated steam thereto, said steam chamber being provided with a series of discharge openings or passages arranged to discharge expanding jets of the high pressure superheated steam outwardly against the annular soap stream with a swirling motion, whereb the soap is effectively atomized and shred ed.

7 A method of shredding soap, which consists in directing a series of expanding 'ets of superheated steam moving on para el lines, against a moving film of molten soap in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of movement of the stream, but inclining in such direction, thereby separating the stream into irregular shreds, and passing the shreds through a heated gas thereby drying said shreds and forming a protective coating on the shreds so that they will not stick to each other.

8. An improved spray dried soap roduct, consisting essentialy of substantla y pure soap in the form of flattened and irregular, elongated and twisted shreds, of a size between about five mesh and forty mesh.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

SAMUEL B. MU'RDOCK. 

